Tony Parsons gets £1m advance

The popular chronicler of mid-life crisis, author Tony Parsons, has signed a new publishing deal that will see him earn a more than £1 million advance for his next two books.

Publishing house HarperCollins won the battle to keep Parsons, whose novel Man And Boy has sold more than 1.5 million copies and spent nearly two years in the top 100 bestsellers' list. Chief executive Victoria Barnsley described Parsons as "a phenomenon".

The firm already has the rights to Man And Boy's sequel, Man And Wife, to be published this September. It follows the fortunes of Man And Boy's protagonist Harry Silver, recently played by Ioan Gruffud in the BBC's adaptation of Parsons's text.

With typical modesty Parsons, 47, said: "I know the books are pretty good, but I also appreciate that HarperCollins have believed in me from day one and I believe in them."

Nick Sayers, who oversees Parsons, would not give any details of the two new novels, saying only that the author has "great ideas".